A path to legitimacy for medical marijuana dispensaries could be in the offing as the San Diego City Council takes a second swing Tuesday at implementing an ordinance that would allow those businesses to operate legally within the city.

If new rules are adopted for dispensaries, it would resolve one of the most contentious issues in civic politics and be the crowning achievement of interim Mayor Todd Gloria’s six months at the helm. Momentum appears to favor new regulations as the council voted unanimously last year on the parameters of the proposed ordinance.

Yes
33% (761)

No
67% (1575)

2336 total votes.

The biggest hurdle could come after the council vote if neighborhood activists or marijuana advocates launch a signature drive to put the new law up for a public vote. That’s what happened in 2011, but the political landscape has changed since then and it appears most medical marijuana proponents now believe a less-than-ideal ordinance is better than none at all.

“They fought the previous ordinance with the belief that it was a de facto ban,” Gloria said. “What they got was not a de facto ban, but a real ban. None of them operate legally in the city. … Our recent experience has shown that by ignoring the issue as we did prior to 2008 or 2009 you get the proliferation of dispensaries. It’s not wise. Failing to regulate also doesn’t make a great deal of sense. So I think we do have what amounts to very much a compromise where you’ll end up with a few dozen in the city and that’s probably about the right number.”

The proposal under consideration would limit dispensaries to some commercial and industrial zones and require them to be at least 1,000 feet from each other as well as schools, playgrounds, libraries, child care and youth facilities, parks and churches. They also must operate as nonprofits, have curtailed business hours and hire security guards.

That’s more restrictive than the 2011 ordinance passed by the council, which called for a distance requirement of 600 feet. Medical marijuana advocates opposed that plan and collected enough signatures to put it before voters. The council rescinded the ordinance rather than pay for the costs of a special election.

One major difference between now and then is that medical marijuana proponents have decided to take a far more organized and professional approach this time around.

Advocates Eugene Davidovich and Bob Riedel have banded together with others to create the Alliance for Responsible Medicinal Access, a group that they hope will act as a Chamber of Commerce of sorts for dispensaries once the ordinance passes. The group has also raised $50,000 in a political-action committee to spend on campaigns or a possible referendum fight over the new ordinance. Helping their cause are Rachel Laing and Erik Caldwell, ex-aides to former Mayor Jerry Sanders who are well-respected at City Hall.

Riedel is best known for owning Mother Earth Healing Alternative Cooperative, the only medical marijuana collective approved by the county. Located in unincorporated El Cajon, it was shut down in September 2012 after its landlord received a letter from the U.S. Attorney’s Office threatening fines and seizure of property.

Riedel said the new group’s only goal is to create safe access to medical marijuana while trying to distance itself politically from those who use the issue to advocate for legalizing the drug altogether.

“There is a difference between the legalization people and the medical people,” Riedel said. “We believe in the medical side of this. … The grown-ups are coming out to talk about grown-up issues.”

Davidovich said the key is to get something approved by the city — even if it’s not perfect — so patients can have access to the drug and dispensary owners can prove they will act responsibly.

“What we have at City Council on the 25th is exactly that: an ordinance that will clean up the Wild West, that will reduce the number of currently operating unlicensed facilities in all of our neighborhoods and leave room for only transparent, responsible and licensed operators,” he said. “That’s what we need.”

Davidovich added, “We can sit and pick the details of this ordinance all day long. The truth is once we get it through, once we get licensing issued, we are able to see folks come into compliance with the rules, prove to the community that they can be responsible. We can always come back and revisit the issue.”

The Wild West he’s referring to occurred during the nine months that former Mayor Bob Filner ran the city. Filner ordered police and code enforcement officials to halt their investigations into dispensaries even though dozens were operating illegally within the city. Filner wanted to let them remain open while the city considered a new ordinance to allow them.

Filner’s proposal for loose restrictions on dispensaries was roundly rejected by the City Council in April as the panel chose to resurrect and tweak its 2011 plan. Filner continued to refuse to enforce the current ban. When he resigned Aug. 30 amid a sexual harassment scandal, Gloria took over and immediately started cracking down on dispensaries. More than two dozen closed after city inspections and prosecutions.

The two biggest issues heading into Tuesday’s council hearing are concerns over neighborhood safety and the potential locations of future dispensaries.

Scott Chipman, with San Diegans for Safe Neighborhoods, a group that opposes dispensaries, said he’s concerned that the industry won’t be regulated properly by the city and the ordinance should include an independent audit system to track drug sales. He said he’s worried marijuana will end up in the hands of teenagers and the city will spend too much of its scarce public-safety resources on dispensaries.

“The first rule of medicine is to ‘do no harm.” This should be the first rule of government as well,” Chipman said. “… Any one of these harms and inadequate provisions is enough to reject this ordinance. That none or most will not be effectively addressed is overwhelming reason to reject and vote no.”

An analysis by the San Diego Association of Governments determined that if the current proposal were adopted without changes then the maximum number of dispensaries possible throughout the city is 131. The 2011 ordinance would have allowed for 271 dispensaries. Those numbers assume dispensaries are perfectly located to maximize their numbers and ignores factors such as whether the location is vacant and available or if the current property owner is willing to lease to a dispensary.

Of the 131 potential spots, the largest number — 54 — are in District 8, which covers San Diego’s southern neighborhoods. Councilman David Alvarez, who represents the area and supports medical marijuana, has said he doesn’t want the new ordinance to result in his minority-rich neighborhoods being a dumping ground for such businesses.

Mayor-elect Kevin Faulconer, whose final council vote before his March 3 inauguration could be the dispensary ordinance, supports limiting the number of dispensaries so that they can’t operate near residential areas.

“We are going to ensure that we guaranteed access but we do not — I repeat — do not want to have a proliferation of these in our neighborhoods,” Faulconer said during the mayoral campaign.

Gloria said the new ordinance would realistically allow for up to 30 dispensaries throughout the city while medical marijuana proponents say the number will likely be closer to 10.

The council will consider the ordinance at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Proposed med pot ordinance

• Limit dispensaries to some commercial and industrial zones

• Keep them at least 1,000 feet from each other as well as schools, playgrounds, libraries, child care and youth facilities, parks and churches